Burdened by Prescription Drugs
Saddled by the outrageous prices for prescription drugs,
small business health insurance has been taking a beating, and will continue to do so regardless of Medicare Part D.
As healthcare costs continue to rise, employers have been forced to push their employees to pay for more out-of-pocket expenses, particularly when it comes to prescription drugs. Use of these medicines, many of them lifesaving, have gone up tremendously in recent years, and their expected use is predicted to go up 400% in the next 8 years.
But many experts fear that these drugs are over-prescribed and overpriced, and as a result the use of prescription drugs is one of the key factors driving up the cost of small business health insurance. In response, employers must choose between shifting the burden to employees, or closing their doors.
Medicare Part D has been touted by many as a solution to this situation for many Americans, but it won't be helpful to small business owners. Medicare Part D forces the federal government to pay for the prescription drug use of those who qualify for Medicare, namely seniors, the disabled, and the poor. But the average working American is still in a bind - making too much money to qualify for Medicare, but not enough to pay for their insurance, millions of American don't have access to lifesaving medications and treatments. As a result, many of them don't seek medical care until they are seriously ill.
President Bush's new healthcare plan may make it easier for
individual health insurance seekers, since it gives them a tax break for purchasing their own insurance. This could, in turn, shift some of the insurance burden away from small business owners who can't afford to offer employees their own insurance.
Facts on:
Prescription Drugs
Did you know...
Prescription drugs are expected to go up 400% in the next 8 years?
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Detractors of the plan, including the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. federation of labor unions, argue that taxing insurance over a certain value punishes employees who have negotiated good health benefits, sometimes by giving up wage increases.
How it will all play out is still unclear, but though Bush's proposal might not make small business health insurance feasible, nor lower prices overall, hopefully it will ease the burden a bit for both consumers and employers alike.
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